Episode 74

After the respawn ended and I came back to life, I snatched up Gang Jegyeong, who was running around as if to taunt me, and was pouring every ounce of sincere burst damage into him when Round 2 ended and I was locked inside a spiked iron cage. Thanks to that, my skill combo was cut off and I couldn’t kill him, but if I had killed him, forget getting points—Gang Jegyeong would have started the next round with his HP refilled. So it was actually lucky I hadn’t managed to kill him.

The screen shifted, and the map changed as well. The final map for Round 3 consisted of several floating islands (*islands suspended in the air) clustered in a circle at a high altitude, along with swaying bridges connecting them.

A section where falling to your death was possible. For me, overflowing with hitback (*being pushed back when hit by an attack) skills and status effect skills, it was a place where I could make up points. Of course, Gang Jegyeong also had a knockback skill, so I had to be careful, but he only had one. As long as I watched out for that, I could avoid dying from a fall well enough.

The moment the bind was released, I charged forward, used a status effect resistance skill, and immediately leaped off the swaying bridge into a glide. It was a position where I could fall to my death, but I wasn’t in a position to be picky right now.

Looking at Gang Jegyeong on the other side, I used a charge skill, and my character closed in on him at high speed. The charge alone didn’t cover enough distance, but by using the linked skill as well, I crossed the swaying bridge in a single bound.

By the time I got close, Gang Jegyeong fired off a self-defense skill, but since I had used my resistance skill in advance, I landed safely where he was. Then I drove him hard with the mindset of not even giving him room to breathe.

Because of the skills we were using, the ropes tied in place to prevent falls reached the end of their durability and broke apart. I had to shove Gang Jegyeong toward the spot where the ropes had disappeared in order to earn points. Since making him fall to his death was more efficient than reducing his HP to 0, I intended to focus as much as possible on dropping him.

Gang Jegyeong knew that perfectly well too, so he struggled desperately not to show me any openings. At the same time, he didn’t forget to keep trying to land knockbacks on me whenever he had the chance.

I blocked Gang Jegyeong’s self-defense skills with my shield, while Gang Jegyeong deflected my status effect skills, and a fierce exchange unfolded between us. Just when I was starting to wonder if it might be better to simply beat him to death since he refused to get caught, Gang Jegyeong failed the mind game and was stunned.

[Combat] You used Noble Execution and dealt 3,991 damage to Jaesugang.

[Combat] Jaesugang is stunned by the effect of Noble Execution.

[Combat] You took 1,143 damage from Central Control used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] Jaesugang recovers from all status effects due to Central Control.

[Combat] You are afflicted with Immunity Reduction due to Jaesugang’s Central Control effect.

Knowing that getting stunned meant it was over, Gang Jegyeong immediately used his escape skill. Then he even used Emergency Evasion and pulled his body backward. In effect, he was as good as cornered.

I doggedly stuck to him and poured burst damage into Gang Jegyeong. In the end, unable to withstand the damage, his character lost all HP and turned into a mass of light.

I hadn’t made him fall to his death, but I had killed him all the same. On top of that, this was Gang Jegyeong’s respawn area, where the 8-point weight was located. The score had been 18 to 25, so if I took this, I would immediately pull ahead by 1 point.

It had been worth holding out between the 2-point and 5-point weights in Round 2. If I hadn’t, I would only have been able to eat the 8-point and 5-point weights, and turning the tables would have been difficult.

[System] You have proven 8 worth to God Ibria.

[System] Your HP has recovered slightly through divine protection.

I had struggled in the previous round, but thanks to what I’d built up, I reversed the score in one go.

While I was thinking about how I should make him fall to his death next, Gang Jegyeong’s respawn ended. He looked as though he would run straight toward me, but then changed direction and dashed toward the left sky bridge. It was only natural. Fighting where I was would only benefit me.

I had to catch up as quickly as possible to Gang Jegyeong as he crossed the bridge while luring me, but even if I wanted to jump off and cross like before, my charge skill was still on cooldown. With no other choice, I crossed to the floating island via the sky bridge in the center, reached the midpoint faster than Gang Jegyeong, then turned to the side and caught up with him.

The moment I approached, Gang Jegyeong stopped running and used a skill.

[Combat] You took 8,766 damage from Joint Throw used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] You are incapacitated due to Jaesugang’s Joint Throw effect.

[Combat] You are afflicted with Attack Speed Reduction due to Jaesugang’s Joint Throw effect.

[Combat] You are afflicted with Movement Speed Reduction due to Jaesugang’s Joint Throw effect.

I had thought Joint Throw might come flying at me, but…… Since the situation was too obvious, I overthought it several times and predicted that he might use Straight Break instead. Sure enough, Joint Throw came out.

The moment the brief groggy state ended, I used a status effect resistance skill. The Vital Thrust that came flying as a follow-up was swallowed up by the resistance skill and resisted, and I even blocked the groggy effect attached to the following Meridian Strike skill. Since it was a skill that blocked status effects 3 times, I could now resist only one more status effect.

He could aim for this moment and use Straight Break, but Gang Jegyeong wasn’t that easy. Most likely…… he would use Corner Strike to consume the remaining resistance count and remove the buff.

[Combat] You used Blade of Annihilation and dealt 12,901 damage to Jaesugang.

[Combat] You took 4,536 damage from Corner Strike used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] You resisted the stun from Corner Strike used by Jaesugang. (Solid)

[Combat] You are afflicted with Bleeding due to Jaesugang’s Corner Strike effect.

And then DoT casting……

[Combat] You took 3,002 (-1,381) damage from Straight Break used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] You used Shield Block and blocked Jaesugang’s Straight Break effect.

……or pretending to cast a DoT, then Straight Break.

I was about to use a resistance skill to block the stun skill that would come next when a chill ran down my spine. It was because the attack speed reduction debuff still remaining on my status window suddenly caught my eye. I had been paying attention to other things and had completely forgotten about that.

In PvP, attack speed reduction is quite fatal. For example, in a situation like this where you have to bring up a skill in a hurry, if you have an attack speed reduction debuff……

[Combat] The activation of Cornered Will has been canceled.

It was because skills were canceled more easily than usual.

[Combat] You took 4,662 damage from Twisting Break used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] You are stunned due to the effect of Twisting Break used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] You took 2,315 damage from Roundhouse Kick used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] You are knocked back due to the effect of Roundhouse Kick used by Jaesugang.

Gang Jegyeong’s character kicked me with all his might, and I fell below the bridge and died from the fall. I had been so fixated on making him fall that I lost my composure and made a mistake.

While I was in respawn, Gang Jegyeong picked up the 5-point weight and recovered HP.

[26 : 30]

……I’d been overtaken again, but it was fine. There were still more than 2 minutes left, and looking at Gang Jegyeong’s remaining HP, it seemed like I wouldn’t need to make him fall. If I landed just one stun combo, I could kill him.

As soon as my respawn ended, I pressed my doping item and ran toward Gang Jegyeong, who was loitering near the 8-point weight. Gang Jegyeong didn’t have Joint Throw right now, and the cooldown timing for Straight Break was also awkward.

[Combat] You used Vanguard Command and dealt 3,891 damage to Jaesugang.

[Combat] Jaesugang is stunned by the effect of Vanguard Command.

[Combat] You took 3,815 damage from Central Control used by Jaesugang.

[Combat] Jaesugang recovers from all status effects due to Central Control.

[Combat] You are knocked down due to Jaesugang’s Central Control effect.

Hit by Gang Jegyeong’s skill after he quickly used his escape skill, my character fell over again. Didn’t it say it knocked you down at a low probability? Judging by feel, it seemed like I fell over nine times out of ten.

It became troublesome because I’d gotten knocked down of all things. By this point, Straight Break should also be off cooldown, so he’d have a knockback……

[Combat] You used Escape and Flight and dealt 4,127 damage to Jaesugang.

[Combat] You recover from all status effects due to Escape and Flight.

[Combat] You are afflicted with Movement Speed Increase due to Escape and Flight.

In the end, at the same time as I forced out Gang Jegyeong’s escape skill, I also had no choice but to use my own.

Time flowed and flowed until just after the 1 minute 40 second mark. As the long, close fight continued, the durations of the DoTs on my status window were almost up, so it was time to refresh them. Of course, from my perspective, it would be better if he didn’t. I’d eaten so damn many that I’d developed antibodies to every virus there was, to the point that I’d be safe even if a zombie virus broke out, so I wished he would stop.

But the diligent Gang Jegyeong started another casting mind game in order to refresh the DoTs. My character wasn’t going to die just because a few more DoTs were refreshed, so I quietly let them hit me to save my skills.

And the moment Gang Jegyeong made the motion of picking up a vial, I bared my teeth.